


danger days ficlets

by jaldon



Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Album)
Genre: Multi, Not Canon Compliant, Series of Oneshots, life in the zones
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-21
Updated: 2017-11-21
Packaged: 2019-02-05 00:50:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 3,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12783327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaldon/pseuds/jaldon
Summary: danger days ficlets, from tumblr, by me





	1. breakdown

“For fuck’s SAKE, Ghoul, could you please get out of the fucking car?” Jet Star said for something like the fourth time. The others were cooperating, Kobra Kid was even helping, but of course, Ghoul was lying on the seat, groaning like he’d got his legs shot off. 

“I’m too weak,” Ghoul moaned dramatically, putting his hand to his forehead. “I don’t think I can move at all, much less stand up!”

“Just get out,” Jet Star snapped, “or I’m gonna make you.”

“Why can’t I stay? It’s hot out there, and I’m  _injured._ ” No one could say Ghoul didn’t have a flair for the dramatic. 

“Well, considering that I don’t know what’s wrong with the Trans Am, I could blow it up and you could die, you idiot,” Jet Star said. He, too, had a flair for the dramatic, but Ghoul didn’t realise it and at that point that was a good thing. At that point, Ghoul rolled out of the car onto the sandy highway below. Jet Star looked down at him in disgust before walking to the hood of the car where Kobra was standing, looking confused. Party Poison leant over to pick him up. 

“You poor, injured baby,” Party said, dusting the sand off of Ghoul’s jacket. 

In reply, Ghoul said, “I know. My laser burns are killing me.” It was Ghoul’s fault, really, since he had been so reckless. He didn’t have to jump off of the balcony into a circle of dracs, but he wanted to make an entrance. 

‘That sounds awful, Babe,” Party replied. 

“It really is. I could be healing in the shade of the car if only Jet hadn’t-”

“Would you two PLEASE shut UP?” Jet Star yelled from the front of the car. A few minutes later, he glaced up and said, “I think I got it. Kobra, could you try the engine?” After the Trans Am came back to life with a familiar rumble, the four piled back into the car. 

“I knew it wouldn’t explode! I could’ve stayed in the car, you jackass!” Fun Ghoul grumbled. 

“It’s a good thing it didn’t explode, or we’de be stranded on Route Guano,” Kobra added. 

“And I’d be dead!” piped up a tiny voice from somewhere in the back of the car. The four turned to look and saw a familiar, curly-haired face smiling back at them. The car swerved as Jet Star turned to face the girl, an angry expression on his face. 

“Oh my fucking god. Am I surrounded by idiots? You were supposed to be at the diner!” Jet yelled. 

“Yeah,” added Fun Ghoul, “You could’ve died!” 

“Like you can talk,” said Kobra. 


	2. babysitter

Party had watched, holding the Girl’s hand in his own, as Jet Star, Kobra Kid, and Fun Ghoul had driven away in the Trans Am. It wasn’t that he was worried, it was just another raid on a Drac base in 2, but he didn’t like being stuck at the diner. He’d rather be out there, feeling the thrill of the fight and the blood on his knuckles. He kinda understood why the Girl was so insistent on going out with them. It hadn’t been so bad getting her to stay at the diner because he was staying too. He hobbled back inside with her and they sat down at one of the worn-out booths. 

“Are you hungry?” he asked. There were only a few cans of power pup left, but he was willing to give his up so she could eat. 

“What do we have?” she asked. He smirked in reply. “Awww, is it just power pup again? That stuff is stinky and gross!” She made a face and Pary laughed. 

“If you don’t eat it on your own I might have to force feed you. You’re a growing girl and you need to stay healthy.” He hated the words coming out of his mouth, they sounded scarily like city propoganda. But she didn’t have to know that. 

After a moment she said, “Nah! Let’s go on the roof instead and watch until the rest of the guys get back.” Before he could protest she was out of the booth and around the corner, heading to the ladder to the roof. Sighing quietly, he followed her. 

When he got up to the roof, she was there, sitting on the ledge, but the energy she had possessed merely minutes before was gone. She seemed much wiser and weary then any seven-year-old should seem. She turned to Party, her large eyes shining. “Party, how come you’re stayin’ with me?”

“You need a babysitter, sand pup,” he replied. 

“I do not. I’m too old for that shit!” the Girl exclaimed. 

“What you definitely are is too young to be cussin’ like that. Who taught you?” 

“You!” she exclaimed, to Party’s laughter. After a moment she spoke again. “What’s the real reason?” She looked at him with narrowed eyes, as if she was daring Party to lie. 

“That is the real reason, sugar. You’d probably blow the place up without adult supervision,” he said. 

“You’re not even an adult, you liar,” she replied. They were both silent for a moment. 

“I guess I’m here ‘cuz I’m grounded too. I was too reckless last time and got hurt, so I can’t go on this raid,” Party muttered, fiddling with his jacket. The Girl scooched closer to him till she was pressed against his side. 

“Party?” she asked, “How come there’s always so much fighting? How come everyone’s getting hurt so much? Why’s everybody always shootin’ each other up?” Party looked at her for a moment. As big as she was, as much as she’d grown, as much as she was part of zone life, she was still a kid. A goddamned kid, who shouldn’t have to see so much fucking violence, who shouldn’t have to be afraid, who should be innocent and happy. Sometimes, Party wondered if keeping her in the zones had been the right choice. But she was happy, right?

“There’s a lotta bad people there,” he said, gesturing vaguely in the direction of Battery City, “and someone’s gotta stop em. That someone’s us.” It was so much more than that, but how could he explain it to a seven-year-old? How could he explain that the bad people weren’t only in Battery City? How could he explain that The Cause wasn’t black and white and how he felt, sometimes, that they were doing more harm than good? How could he explain that some people, including himself, liked the feeling a good firefight brought? So he didn’t try. Instead, he ruffled her hair.

 “Come on,” he said. The sun was down, and it was cold and dark now. “Let’s eat some power pup and go to bed.” This time, she didn’t protest. 


	3. hey now

It was around two in the morning when there was a screech of tires outside the radio shack, shortly followed by a loud banging noise. Show Pony sighed, stood up from the chair Dr. Death Defying usually occupied, and skated over to the door. 

“Who is it?” they asked, even though they knew perfectly well who it was. 

“Open up, Pony,” said an annoyed voice from the other side of the door that belonged to Fun Ghoul. Show Pony giggled. 

“Come on, sugar, can’t I get a ‘please,’” Show Pony replied. 

“Listen,” came Fun Ghoul’s voice again. “If you don’t let me in, now, I’m gonna kick down the goddamned door.”

“You’re too short for that,” said Show Pony, “And even if you weren’t you aren’t nearly flexible enough. Now, me, I can show you flexib-”

“Open up or I’ll kick down the door,” said Jet Star. Show Pony groaned and opened the door. 

“What is it? Is something wrong?” they asked, feigning innocence. 

“Where’s D?” asked Fun Ghoul, frowning. 

“He’s out tonight,” Show Pony replied. “I’m in charge of the radio tonight! How have I been doing?”

Ghoul and Jet glanced at each other for a minute, and both of them rolled their eyes  _at least_ once. Finally, Jet Star said, “Well, that explains it.”

“Explains what?” asked Show Pony, batting their eyelashes. Within two seconds, they were up against the wall, their skates not touching the ground. Show Pony gasped for air, barely realising that it was Fun Ghoul holding him there. 

“Why you played All Star by Smash Mouth seven  _Goddamned_  times in a row!” Ghoul yelled. After a nod from Jet Star, he dropped Show Pony. The two of them turned dramatically on their heels and stalked back to the Trans Am. As they drove away, Ghoul shouted from the window, “It’s STILL playing. Fuck You!” 

The car disappeared into the night, and Show Pony went to change the song. It wasn’t like he was afraid of them, not at all, no way, but he didn’t want that to happen again. 


	4. fireworks

“What’s that, Jet?” the Girl asked, her voice awestruck. Together they looked where she was pointing. The sky was lit up with colors, redorangeyellow, the ones they never saw in the nighttime sky. 

“Fireworks,” Jet replied. They weren’t fireworks, fireworks weren’t a thing that happened anymore. Jet couldn’t remember when he’d seen them last. It was an easy lie to let slip out, since he wanted to believe it too. 

“Wow,” she said, climbing onto his lap. She knew the familiar sound and color of explosives well enough to know what they actually were, but tonight they could both let it slide. It was a harmless lie. The bombs weren’t close enough to hurt them, anyways. 


	5. hospital bed

Show Pony paced nervously through the diner, ignoring the look the girl was giving them. She was the only one other than them in the main dining area, and she was sitting alone at a dilapidated booth. Her legs, too short to reach the ground, were swinging back and forth. 

After a while, the Girl spoke up. “Can I try on your skates, Pony?” They turned to look at her, and she squinted back. Why did seven-year-olds always look so fucking judgemental? Maybe she was judging him for being so nervous. The rest of the Fabulous Killjoys had been, and they had kicked them out of the kitchen for ‘getting in the way’ and ‘being unhelpful’ and ‘flitting around like an anxious butterfly.’ It wasn’t Pony’s fault that they were worried about Party Poison. 

Pony was saved from responding when Jet Star opened the kitchen door. “You can come in now if you want to see him,” Jet said. The Girl started to get up too but Jet Star said, “Not you yet, honey.”

Pony walked through the door. Inside, Kobra was sitting next to the table that Party Poison, still unconscious, was lying on. Ghoul was by the sink, cleaning the needle he had clearly just used to stitch Party up with, so maybe it was for the better that Party wasn’t awake. 

They skated over to the table Party was on and grabbed his hand. After a few minutes, Party started returning to consciousness. He blinked at Show Pony. 

“You’re a dumb motherfucker, you know that?” Pony asked.

“Not exactly the wake up call I was expecting,” Party muttered. “I was thinking a little more ‘oh baby I was so worried about you.’” He grinned up at Show Pony. He was probably high on some sort of expired pain meds, Pony thought. 

 Pony almost smiled back. God, Party’s smile was fucking irresistible. “I can’t believe you got fucking knifed by some joy! What an unheroic way to die.”

“I didn’t die,” Party said. Besides, I was defending your honor.”

“Oh really, now?” Show Pony said. They licked their lips. Maybe it was unintentional, they didn’t really know.

“I swear to the Destroya, could you to save it till we leave the fucking room?” Ghoul asked.

“Don’t worry babe,” said Party to Show Pony. “He’s just jealous.” Party winked as Ghoul stormed out, shortly followed by a silent Kobra Kid. Show Pony couldn’t help smiling.

“The girl is gonna want to see you.”

“Now is a good time as ever for her to learn the virtue of patience.”


	6. mask

Fun Ghoul stared down at the mask in his hands. He couldn’t think straight, the Trans Am had been too crowded and the roof of the diner was too empty. Or maybe it was the mask in his hand, another reminder. It didn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter. None of the others were having the same reaction, they could all deal with it. Just another raid on a camp in the zones. No big deal. 

He breathed in. 

He breathed out. 

He didn’t know how long he was sitting there until Party came over and put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey,” said Party, his voice softer than usual. Ghoul turned his head. His eyes were maybe a little more vacant than they should have been. 

He didn’t notice Party had moved until the mask was being pried out of his hands. They hurt from being clenched for so long. Eventually, Party got the mask from him. Ghoul didn’t know how to unclench his hands. 

“You’re okay now,” Party said. “No one got hurt. It was just another fight.” Party reached out and took his hands. “We’re okay,” he murmured. 

Ghoul’s voice cracked as he spoke for the first time in hours. “What if we weren’t?” When Party didn’t reply, he asked, “What if it had been me?” They both knew he was talking about the Exterminator mask in Party’s hands. Party sighed and squeezed Ghoul’s hands a little tighter. 


	7. droids

“Cola,” came an annoyed voice from the back of the shop, “there’s a shipment in zone one for me that was supposed to be delivered today. Go pick it up and I’ll pay you extra.” 

Cherri Cola nodded, despite knowing that no one could see him, and ducked out the side door of the store. Chow Mein would figure out that he had gone, Cola had been working for him long enough. 

His bike was waiting for him where he had left it, chained to a post. The chain was easily breakable, but luckily no one had tried their luck with it. No helmet, but he put his mask on. It was better to not be so exposed in the zones, anyways. The ride to zone one wasn’t scenic or different, but as Cola got closer to Battery City there were more people- joys and dracs alike. 

By the time Cola got to the market, he could tell something was off. It was like the aftermath of a battle. Maybe there  _had_ been a battle. In his haste to find out what was wrong, he got closer to the city than he’d intended. And he saw it. 

Lying across the border, there were six or maybe seven bodies. Not joys, no, not even human. They were droids. What had happened there? They must have tried to leave, he thought. The power must have cut out, and as much as droids can they must have died. No one had bothered to move the bodies yet. After all, neither BLI nor and desert dwellers cared. 

Cola shuddered and turned around to find what Tommy Chow Mein needed. 


	8. what brings us together

“Do you ever, ya know, think about getting married?” Show Pony said, glancing at Fun Ghoul. It was one of those rare evenings where they were alone together. This time, Ghoul was at the radio station. It didn’t matter that Doctor Death Defying was right inside, he was on air and wouldn’t come out for a while. 

Fun Ghoul laughed. “Is that a proposal, Pony?”

Show Pony shrugged. “No. I was just wondering.”

Ghoul’s expression flickered for a moment. “It doesn’t seem like an option here, really. There’s too much…” he waved his hand at the desert surrounding them, “going on. And besides, I never heard of a married joy.”

Pony nodded. “How ‘bout back in the city?”

Ghoul looked pointedly away from him. “I never imagined myself in a wedding dress.” 

Pony took his hand between their own. He rubbed circles on the back of Ghoul’s hand with one of his thumbs.

“And it would have been impossible to do it… otherwise. I don’t think that I would’ve been allowed.” His eyes were wet. “Besides, there never was anyone worth even thinking bout all the trouble.” Ghoul wiped his eyes with the back of his free hand. “Well. Not before you, sweetheart.”


	9. hand-y

“What the fuck did you do, you idiot?” Party yelled.

Ghoul looked at his mangled hand and back up at Party Poison. “I think I broke it,” he said, shrugging. Fun Ghoul winced. “I can’t bend it. I;m pretty sure that means it’s broken.”

“Yeah but how did you break it?” Party said, sounding exasperated. 

“I can’t tell you,” Ghoul said. “You’ll be mad at me.”

“At least let me see it,” Party responded, grabbing Ghoul’s injured hand. 

“Ow!” Ghoul yelped. “That hurts, asshole! My hand hurts, be careful with it!”

“You’re the one who broke it, idiot. I hope whatever crazy stunt you pulled was worth it,” Party said, grabbing some bandage from the Trans Am first aid kit. “This is all I have right now, try not to move it too much until we get back to the diner. Idiot.”

The two of them climbed back into the car. “It wasn’t even a crazy stunt,” Ghoul muttered, “I slammed my hand in the car door.”

The tires screeched against the highway as the Trans Am suddenly stopped. “You did  _what_?”


	10. who? everyone.

It was hard to lie to kids with wide eyes, and Ghoul knew that from multiple years of trying. Or maybe he just couldn’t lie to The Girl. It was possible. He’d never seen another kid in the zones, and back in the city he had no kids to try and lie to. 

She was sitting next to him in the booth in the diner, scribbling who knows what directly onto the table. It was that kind of afternoon, hazy and slow and remarkably quiet. The diner felt empty. Fun Ghoul had no idea where anyone else was. 

“You’re not my parents,” The Girl said suddenly, still focused on her drawing. 

Ghoul paused for a moment. “No,” he said, “We’re not.” He supposed none of them had ever really felt like a parent to her, and none of them had ever acted like it. They were  _family_  though, that was all that had ever mattered. 

“How come?” She asked. 

“How come we’re not your parents?” Ghoul replied slowly. He saw her roll her eyes. 

“No, stupid. How come I’m with you and not my parents?” She looked up at him. Her eyes were big and staring straight at him. She knew the answer, he realized, she just wanted him to say it. She needed to know it was real. It was so fucking hard to say. 

“Because…” Ghoul started. “Because they’re not alive.” That didn’t seem like the right way to say it. “You needed someone to take care of you, and that was us.” There was so much more he couldn’t say. 

Her face broke, and he gently tugged her into his lap. The Girl wasn’t crying, he could see that. She hadn’t cried since she was a baby. “Oh Honey,” Fun Ghoul murmured, stroking her tangled hair. “We all lost people back there. But we all got some people out here too.”

She looked up at him again. “Who did you lose?” She asked.

“I lost everyone, Sweetie.” She wasn’t crying, but he could feel that he was close to it. “But out here, I got everyone back. It’s just, it’s a different everyone.” 

The Girl nodded. She was strong. She’d make it, with or without parents. After all, a family could be one six year old and four grown men who lived in the desert and fought the government together. They were family, with or without her parents. 


	11. hot

“I dreamed of you last night,” Kobra says. 

“Sweet,” Ghoul replies, not looking up from his magazine. “Was it hot?”

“You were dying,” Kobra grins. “But yeah, it was pretty hot.”

“Thanks babe,” Ghoul replies, smiling. His eyes still haven’t left the page. 


	12. better

There’s a kid on the ground and there’s blood and a flashing neon sign somewhere. Party doesn’t remember stumbling outside but now everything is too clear and everything is  _off._ He’s kneeling next to the kid. 

“Can you hear me?” Party says. 

The boy’s eyes are wide and bulging and he moves his head just slightly- a nod. The boy grabs Party’s hand. 

“I- I can’t breathe,” the kid says, and blood spills over his lower lip, dribbling down his chin but there’s  _too much blood for it to be dribbling it’s practically pouring it’s-_

“Help me,” the kid gasps. 

Fuck, Party thinks, where’s Ghoul and his stupid medkit when you need it?

A minute late and he’s left with a dead kid in his arms. Vaguely he thinks, I should take his body somewhere I should do something I should bury him I should make sure the scavengers don’t get his body the I should I should I should. 

It’s won’t be the last time that, instead, he wipes his hands on the ground and walks back inside. (A better person would’ve buried the kid. But a better person could’ve saved the kid.)


	13. don't

“Don’t leave,” Fun Ghoul says. “I swear to Destroya if you walk out of that door, you are dead to me.”

The red hair stops moving (through a blur of angry tears, the color is all Ghoul can see).

“Don’t do it,” Ghoul says. He swallows. “Please.”

Party Poison doesn’t close the door behind him as he disappears into the dark.


	14. candles

“You got the candles?” Kobra asks from the table.

“Yeah,” Ghoul replies, “for like, a million carbons, but it was worth it.” He walks to the counter and puts the bundle down. From the corner of his eye he sees Kobra nodding.

“Jet’s coming. He’ll be here soon.”

“And Baby? Where’s she?”

“On the roof,” Kobra says, “you know, sulking. Doing her thing.”

“It’s hard for her. It’s hard for all of us.” It’s been too many years for Ghoul to cry.

“Yeah,” says Kobra. “So damned hard.” He’s choked up.

“Aw shit, Kid,” Ghoul says, “Come here.”

Kobra walks over slowly, and Ghoul pulls him into a tight hug. He holds him until the world around them fades.

“You think… do you think he’d like it?” Kobra says. “The candles and everything?”

“Yeah,” Ghoul says. “Yeah.”

“Do you think…?” Kobra trails off.

“Yeah. I can feel it.” Ghoul says. He kisses Kobra’s cheek and then slowly untangles their arms. “Let’s put the candles out. And maybe get Baby down from the roof. And then let’s wait for Jet, and be a family, and make Party Poison proud.”


End file.
